7 September 2020 — STRANGE TIMES

The strangest thing for me about having to adapt to government guidance under Covid 19 is SOCIAL DISTANCING — keeping two metres apart. If one is naturally a ‘huggy’ type of person one has to unlearn that behaviour and learn to restrain one’s self.

I think, however, that Government Guidance has separated people into ‘those who do’ and ‘those who don’t’. As one passes people there are those who make no attempt to stay 2 metres apart and those who go out of their way to do so.

I would like to say that ‘deep down’ I am of a rebellious nature but I’m afraid that my rebellious nature is not so DEEP DOWN.

I do wear a mask in shops as we are asked to do but I really find it uncomfortable and certainly do not wear one outside of shops. Many people, however, have adapted extremely well to mask wearing and sometimes when walking I find my journey much livened by noticing the huge variety of patterns on the masks of the people I pass.

By far the worst side effects, however, are the number of cafes who have been forced to close thereby putting business in jeopardy and making people redundant, Pubs have been opened for a while but playing music is still not allowed. And, of course, on a personal level many people have been unable to meet up with family members with whom they do not live.

I, personally have not been greatly affected apart from having some of the channels through which I normally amuse myself removed. Locally, a new shop and cafe has just opened and the queues to get in have been tremendous.

But as ever, along with the negative comes the positive for they are opposite sides of the same coin like day and night. So what have been the positive sides of Coronavirus for us?

One local cafe I frequented closed for a few weeks and I missed the companionship I gained from the workers and other customers there. I was left with no choice but to look inward and to discover what was missing in myself that I needed to get from other people. Something perhaps that I am still working on.